Sixty years ago,
a man named Kenneth Arnold saw something that we can still {{U}} {{U}}
1 {{/U}} {{/U}}today something that changed popular culture for
ever. Flying his plane over mountains in the US state of
Washington, he saw a line of strange objects, either crescent-shaped (月牙形的) or
disc-like, flying {{U}} {{U}} 2 {{/U}} {{/U}}the motion of a
saucer (碟) skimming (飞速掠过) on water. The media soon picked up
on the story—the Flying Saucers were here! Was the earth being {{U}}
{{U}} 3 {{/U}} {{/U}}by creatures from another planet? Soon, So many
sightings were made that the US military began to {{U}} {{U}} 4
{{/U}} {{/U}}. It called these strange Objects UFOs—Unidentified Flying
Objects, and that is how they are {{U}} {{U}} 5 {{/U}}
{{/U}}today. Military investigations found no evidence of
visitors from outer space. But that did not stop the true {{U}} {{U}}
6 {{/U}} {{/U}}. The military were {{U}} {{U}} 7
{{/U}} {{/U}}up, they said. Or maybe it was because the travelers from space
were of such superior intelligence {{U}} {{U}} 8 {{/U}}
{{/U}}they could hide from military analysts (分析家). People have
always seen strange lights in the sky. In the past these were explained in
{{U}} {{U}} 9 {{/U}} {{/U}}ways. In a world where religion was
less influential and science fiction was popular, signs from God were replaced
by visitors from other {{U}} {{U}} 10 {{/U}} {{/U}}.
The date of the first UFO sightings was also significant. In 1947, World
War Ⅱ had just ended and the {{U}} {{U}} 11 {{/U}} {{/U}}War was
just beginning. Humanity seemed locked in endless conflicts. Like generations
before them, people looked {{U}} {{U}} 12 {{/U}} {{/U}}the skies
for help. But instead of seeking God, they looked for help from
super-intelligent aliens (外星人) with {{U}} {{U}} 13 {{/U}}
{{/U}}technology. Belief in UFOs became the first religion of science.
However, even people who believe in UFOs are not quite sure why they
visit the earth. The universe is a big place and it is {{U}} {{U}}
14 {{/U}} {{/U}}to assume that there is life somewhere out there. It is
possible that aliens have worked out how to travel through space. Yet some
people report that they have been taken by aliens and have had experiments
{{U}} {{U}} 15 {{/U}} {{/U}}on them. Why would anyone travel
across half the universe to conduct medical experiments on people living in
small towns in the United States?